Speaking at a conference in Kiev attended by Ukrainian and European lawmakers and business leaders on Saturday, Yatseniuk made clear he did not view the ceasefire as the start of a sustainable peace process because of Putin's ambitions.

We are still in a stage of war and the key aggressor is the Russian Federation ... Putin wants another frozen conflict (in eastern Ukraine).

His goal is to take all of Ukraine ... Russia is a threat to the global order and to the security of the whole of Europe.

NATO in these particular circumstances is the only vehicle to protect Ukraine.

Ukraine is "still in a state of war" with neighbouring Russia despite a cease-fire between Kiev's forces and Moscow-backed rebels in the east, the country's prime minister said as a second convoy of Russian trucks rolled into Ukraine.

Speaking at a conference with politicians and business leaders in Kiev, Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Russian President Vladimir Putin's goal is "to take the entire Ukraine".

Donetsk city council said there had been fighting near the airport overnight. Two shells hit homes in the area but there were no reports of casualities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to destroy Ukraine as an independent country and restore the Soviet Union, the country's prime minister claimed today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves a Moscow church this week. Credit: RIA Novosti/Reuters

Arseny Yatseniuk also praised a new wave of economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union and the United States and said they posed a major threat to the Russian economy.

"We are still in a stage of war and the key aggressor is the Russian Federation ... Putin wants another frozen conflict (in eastern Ukraine)," he said at an conference in Kiev attended by European and Ukrainian politicians and business leaders.

"His goal is to take the entire Ukraine ... Russia is a threat to the global order and to the security of the entire Europe," Yatseniuk added.

Fifteen civilians have been killed in shelling in the east Ukrainian city of Donetsk today, the city administration said in a statement on its website which
described the general situation there as "very tense".